OAKLAND, Calif. (August 3, 2012) – Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, has announced the first two winners of its new Cooperative Small Grants Program, which offers Fair Trade Certified™ coffee cooperatives access to funding for specific capacity-building projects. The winners, APROCASSI from Peru and ASOPROKAN from Colombia, were awarded a combined $40,428 to improve crop productivity and quality management.

Fair Trade USA, a non-profit organization and the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, recently released its 2011 Almanac, an annual publication which provides detailed information on the supply and impact of Fair Trade Certified products. According to the Almanac, in 2011 farmers and farm workers earned almost $22 million in community development premiums, up over 50 percent from 2010.